Review: 999: 9 Persons, 9 Hours, 9 Doors
Well you should have seen this coming! This game has leeched a good amount of time out of me already, yet I'm still not finished with it. I've finished it five times and I still want more. Sure, I originally bought this game as research material for my FYP, but am I glad that I did. I will say it here, before I even get into the thick of the review: if you own a DS and you can read, you absolutely must play this game.
I discovered the existence of 999 via a Destructoid article. The premise of the game, partnered with the fact that it is a visual novel led me to search for other works by Aksys, the developer. Because of this, I ended up playing through one of their earlier games; Ever17: The Out of Infinity on the PC. While this Ever17 is a pure visual novel that requires no input from the user save for a few choices to make and to sift through text, I had paid for a copy of 999 before I was even finished with it. The first playthrough, which will always be the longest, lasts around 8 hours.
The gameplay couldn't be simpler. Anyone that has played online games similar to the Crimson Room will be able to identify with the 'escape the room' segments of the game. Besides that, the rest of the game consists of very long 'story' sequences, which fill the moments when you aren't solving a puzzle. I won't lie, if you aren't a fan of reading you may not enjoy this game, but the story is so well written that it would simply be a shame if you pass on it for this reason.
Continue to page two of three.